Punk Rock HR Question: Ass Muscles

Over the last 4 weeks I have been experiencing pain in one of my hip flexors. My doctor has sent me to physical therapy to treat it. After the physical therapists tested out different stretching and strength tests, she informed me that the reason that I am experiencing pain is that my gluteus muscles have atrophied and other muscles and tendons are overcompensating when I work out. In other words, from sitting on my ass for 12 hours a day between my commute and the need to be at my desk for the majority of my day, my ass muscle has shrunk and it is effecting the rest of my body. Technically, I think this could be considered a workers’ comp issue, but I am not going to push it. Feel free to share this story if you like as another “HR can suck” story.

I have to tell you something: I personally went through a similar situation except that my my hip rotators were so sore that I felt pain in my butt, my thighs, and my pelvic floor. That’s right. My sedentary lifestyle hurt my hips, my ass, and my ladyparts.

I’m not proud to admit this, and it feels quite odd to write about it, but the doctor reassured me that pelvic floor pain is a common condition in women who work in offices or sit on their butts, all day long. I don’t doubt this for a minute, but women never talk about it. I was sent to physical therapy. Have you ever gone to physical therapy for pelvic pain? There’s nothing more humbling than being in your early 30s and sitting in a waiting room with women who sneeze and pee. They all had the same look on their faces, too.

“You’re awfully young to sneeze and pee on yourself.”

I never learned about the interconnectedness of my core, my pelvis, and my ass in health class, and I never knew my job would hurt my body in such a visceral way. Here’s what I do know: any job, including Human Resources, can bruise the mind, the body, and the ego. When your butt hurts from work, it’s time to make a change.